Bubba's Bar & Grille — Restaurant in Newbury

We are locals who frequent Bubba's from time to time, as we've found the food and service generally good (albeit not inexpensive). Last night was such an exception that we're not likely to return any time soon (if ever). My wife's $10 margarita was not as ordered and then its replacement proved to be very watered down. She isn't a picky eater, but her seafood chowder was inedible--gelatinous goo in the center of the bowl that jiggled when the bowl was shaken slightly (and wouldnt mix together with the rest of the bowl contents). I tried it (I'm definitely not a picky eater after many years eating Army food) and also found it inedible (slimy and tasteless). Her "Maryland Crabcakes" were flat, mushy patties that bore no resemblence to any "Maryland-style" crabcakes in our experience (either in looks or taste, which were definitely "meh". My wife described them as inferior to what one can buy in the grocery store frozen food section.) My "Chef's Pasta" was delivered with shrimp vice the scallops listed in the Menu's entree description (and certainly not noticed by the server, who had to go back and verify it should have come with scallops). To Bubba's credit, she offered to have some scallops pan fried for me, but since I was sitting there with the prepared food in front of me, I chose to eat what I had, but requested a price consistent with shrimp rather than scallops. The pasta proved quite good, but Bubba's only saw fit to decrement the price a whole $2, which seemed pretty chintzy. Anyway, all in all a very expensive mistake. I don't see a return to Bubba's for...

While the food, menu, and atmosphere were all as expected, the thing that ruined both my appetite and my experience was the way IDing me was handled.

I ordered the salmon and asked for a glass of wine. The waitress had some difficulty verifying my ID, which I understand since it is an out-of-state ID. She then mentioned to me that they would need to hold it, which I was also OK with. Some moments later, she came back to the table and stated, "Nice try," and proceeded to carry on. I was confused by this and asked her for additional information. She then proceeded to claim that my ID was fake and indicated that they were holding on to it. It was here where I told her this was, in fact, my actual and genuine ID. The waitress then, in a condescending tone, indicated that they can have the cops come to check it. Once verified, the waitress's apology was dismissive and not genuine. In fact, she was giving a tone of "we were right even though we were wrong." Furthermore, she tried to use the situation of having caught several other fake IDs earlier in the week as a reason for her decision and attitude, which is ridiculous.

The manager offered either a free dessert or 50% off the meal, which I feel was somewhat unsatisfactory; however, the manager was much more apologetic and considerate. It was difficult to truly enjoy the food, which I am sure was fantastic. Given this experience, I would not come...

This review is based off of two experiences to this establishment and both were horrid because you continue to ignore the fact that you routinely include an allergen in your menu items and not disclose it to customers. About a year ago I ordered a Baconator from your menu and asked to have no onion only to get home and bite into it and get a mouthful of onions. Now I can understand putting onions into an infused burger, but it should still be disclosed on your menu. When I complained the last time, your refused to refund my order. I decided to try again tonight(shame on me for thinking my concerns were heard the last time) and I ordered Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo. I just got home and opened my food and was OVERWHELMED by the smell of onions. Who puts ONIONS in ALFREDO?!?!? I have never seen anything like it before and I was a chef for almost 10 years. And again, if you are going to do that, you need to warn people. This is twice now that I have paid your establishment for food that I can not eat. I also want to mention that when I brought up my concerns the last time, that I was told that you agreed that something like onions should be disclosed on the menu if it is a menu item ingredient, but I notice you still don't care enough about your patrons to make that minor change. I will never get food from this establishment again and I plan to post this on every review...